THE Social Security System (SSS) expects an initial P30-billion addition to its fund this year from the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11199, or the Social Security Act.
Officials of SSS made the disclosure during the stakeholder consultation conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday.
“We expect around P30 billion will be added [to the SSS fund] for 2019 alone with the new law,” SSS Actuarial Department representative Tony Gibe said when asked by a migrant sector leader.
SSS Acting Vice President for Asia Joy A. Villacorta, however, noted the projection still does not include the additional premiums to be collected from land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) now that they are all required to become SSS members.
She said they will first wait for the completion of their consultation with stakeholders before they can compute the possible contributions of new OFW members to the SSS fund.
Under RA 11199, SSS will raise the contribution rate of its members by 1 percent from 2019 to 2020.
The first increase is expected to take effect within the year, raising the current contribution rate from 11 percent to 12 percent.
In 2021, this will be raised to 13 percent and by 2023, to 14 percent. The last adjustment will be in 2025 at 15 percent.
The said premium rates will apply to both local and overseas SSS members.
“This [premium increase] will be our tool to further improve our services especially for OFWs,” she added.
She said they hope OFWs will be encouraged to pay their SSS premium since it will provide them with a retirement pension, as well as their new unemployment insurance benefit.
“Instead of looking at it as expense, they should consider it as a long-term investment,” Villacorta said.
Labor reacts
The assurance from SSS, however, drew mixed reaction from labor groups.
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) said it is willing to give RA 11199 a chance to prove it will be ultimately be beneficial to workers.
TUCP was particularly interested with the unemployment insurance provision of the law, which it said will be the first in the country.
“The TUCP recognizes stakeholders efforts to put together a package of serious reforms in improving SSS viability for better quality services to its members,” TUCP President Raymond Mendoza said.
For its part, militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno sees RA 11199 as anti-poor for imposing additional expenses on workers.
Instead of imposing additional premiums, KMU Chairman Elmer Labog said SSS should improve the efficiency of its collection to ensure the sustainability of its fund.